System, apparatus and method for characterizing messages to discover dependencies of services in service-oriented architectures

ABSTRACT

A system, apparatus, computer readable medium and method are disclosed for identifying underlying services of transactions in a service-oriented architecture (“SOA”)-based computer network. In one embodiment, a computer readable medium includes executable instructions to characterize messages communicating among services to form characterizations of the messages. Also included are executable instructions to determine dependencies using the characterizations of messages within a subset of the services. These dependencies can be represented as dependency links interconnecting the subset of the services that effectuate a transaction of interest. By identifying the dependency links, the underlying services in SOA-based networked computer system can advantageously be determined for managing the behavior of the subset of the services and other distributed services of the SOA-based networked computer system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to services and service-orientedarchitectures (“SOAs”). More particularly, this invention relates toautonomous agents that characterize messages exchanged between servicerequesters and providers, whereby characterizations for one or more ofthose messages determine dependency links among constituent services ofa select transaction.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A service-oriented architecture (“SOA”)-based networked computer systemimplements heterogeneous computing devices and software programs toprovide distributed services. Any of these services can accept requestsfrom a client irrespective of programming languages, hardware platforms,and locations on a network. Also, the services, such as a web services,exchange messages using standardized communication protocols, such asSOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol). SOAP is a protocol specificationthat defines a uniform way of passing XML-encoded data and defines a wayto invoke remote processing using HTTP as a common transport protocol(or another transport protocol) as the underlying communicationprotocol. By using SOAP or any like protocol, a service requestor and aservice provider can communicate across different platforms anddifferent programs, so long as their interfaces are determinable, suchas in accordance with an interface contract. Further, service-orientedarchitectures implement services without regard to the specific tasks ortransactions that those services perform. Accordingly, developers ofSOA-based systems can reuse existing services to implement newer andmore sophisticated transactions.

But while the service-oriented architecture provides flexibility tobuild systems using existing services, the monitoring, managing, andcontrolling of SOA-based systems and their transactions can be difficultsince any one service can receive and transmit messages for any numberof unspecified transactions. Consequently, a manager of an SOA-basedsystem cannot readily identify the participants in a specifictransaction, thereby hindering the manager's ability to perform, forexample, root-cause failure analysis, performance analysis, impactanalysis (i.e., how modification of a service affects any number oftransactions), and other like system diagnostics.

One approach to identify the transactions to which a particular servicebelongs alters the messages to insert keys that have a primary functionof tracking dependencies among a specific grouping of services.Typically, the same key is inserted in to each message used to performthe transaction. A drawback to this approach is that altering a messageto include a key can cause it to be deemed suspect and then discarded inaccordance with some network security policies. Another drawback to thisapproach is that some service providers can be located outside the scopeof a system manager's sphere of authority (e.g., services external to anenterprise), and as such, those outside services might not be equippedto process such keys that otherwise should be removed prior to messagesarrival. Consequently, external services might fail if they cannotprocess the keys.

In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide a mechanismfor enhancing the functionality of existing services. Ideally, thetechnique would provide enhanced functionality to effectivelycharacterize and relate service messages so as to detect, report andmanage transactions and services in an SOA-based networked computersystem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system, apparatus, computer readable medium and method are disclosedfor identifying underlying services of transactions in aservice-oriented architecture (“SOA”)-based computer network. In oneembodiment, a computer readable medium includes executable instructionsto characterize messages communicating among services to formcharacterizations of the messages and to determine dependencies within asubset of the services using the characterizations. In one embodiment,the executable instructions of the computer readable medium areconfigured to characterize data representing the contents of themessages to form a characterization value for a subset of the messages.Executable instructions also store the characterization values externalto the messages for comparison against other characterization values ofother messages. Advantageously, this identifies equivalent messageswithout altering the messages. In a specific embodiment, executableinstructions are configured to determine the characterization value as,for example, a function of a number of unique messages flowing among thesubset of services. In some cases, the executable instructions cancharacterize the data by condensing an arbitrary amount of datarepresenting each message in the subset of the messages to a fixedamount of data representing the characterization value. Advantageously,the fixed amount reduces the computational overhead of identifyingequivalent messages. Additional executable instructions can also adjusta size associated with the fixed amount of data to maintain a number ofunique characterization values to attribute to a number of subsets ofthe messages. Note that in some embodiments, the executable instructionsto condense the arbitrary amount of data further include executableinstructions to perform a hash function. In various embodiments, thecomputer readable medium includes executable instructions tocharacterize data that represents the contents of other messages to formanother characterization value for another subset of messages. Otherexecutable instructions are configured to compare the characterizationvalue against the other characterization value and to identify a matchbetween the characterization value and the other characterization value.The match signifies that messages of the subset of messages and theother subset of messages are equivalent. In at least one embodiment, theexecutable instructions to determine dependencies further includesexecutable instructions to associate the characterization value and theother characterization value with a first service and a second service,respectively. Additional instructions link the first service to thesecond service to establish a dependency link. Further, the computerreadable medium includes executable instructions to graphicallyrepresent the dependency link on a display of a graphical user interface(“GUI”).

In another embodiment, a system is configured to identify underlyingservices of transactions in a service-oriented architecture(“SOA”)-based computer network. The system includes a network ofcomputing devices implementing a plurality of services exchangingmessages to perform a transaction and a message observer moduleconfigured to compute characterization values for messages eitherentering each service or exiting each service, or both, for a subset ofservices. Also included is a dependency calculator module configured toreceive the characterization values and to determine dependency linksbetween services having an equivalent characterization value within thesubset of services. The one or more dependency links can describe thecooperation of services that effectuate the transactions.

In yet another embodiment, a computer readable medium includesexecutable instructions to identify underlying services of transactionsin a service-oriented architecture (“SOA”)-based computer network. Thecomputer readable medium includes executable instructions to manageservices by using a user interface executing on a computer devicecoupled to the SOA-based computer network. Further, the computerreadable medium includes executable instructions to accept a request todetermine a first subset of services coupled via dependency links thatare used to perform a first transaction and to display for the firsttransaction a first service coupled via at least one dependency link toa second service. Executable instructions can also be configured toaccept a request to modify a property of the at least one dependencylink to modify performance of the first transaction. By modifying theproperty, one can manage operation of the SOA-based computer network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The invention is more filly appreciated in connection with the followingdetailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus configured todiscover dependencies among services in a service-oriented architecture(“SOAs”)-based networked computer system in accordance with anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrating a system of message observersdistributed within a SOA-based networked computer system for discoveringdependencies in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a message characterizer inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 depicts the operation of a dependency calculator, according toone embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram describing a method for discoveringdependencies in a SOA-based networked computer system in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a system for discovering dependencies in aSOA-based networked computer system in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention; and

FIG. 6 depicts a computer device implementing a user interface to modifythe operational characteristics of dependency links, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

Like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts throughout theseveral views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1A is a block diagram 100 illustrating an apparatus 110 configuredto discover dependencies among services in a service-orientedarchitecture (“SOAs”)-based networked computer system in accordance withan embodiment of the invention. Apparatus 110 includes a messageobserver 122 and a dependency calculator 126, each or both of which canbe coupled to a repository 130. In various embodiments, apparatus 110resides at or near service 106 regardless of whether that service is asource or a destination of messages. Generally, message observer 122 isconfigured to compute characterization values for messages eitherentering service 106 or exiting service 106, or both, with respect to asubset of services within the SOA-based networked system. Dependencycalculator 126 is configured to receive the characterization values andto determine dependency links between services having an equivalentcharacterization value. Dependency links describe the cooperation ofservices that effectuate a transaction of interest. Normally,determining the effects of modifying an individual service on a vastnumber of transactions is difficult to discern without understanding howthat individual service cooperates with different combinations ofservices that support those transactions. As such, apparatus 110 canadvantageously identify the underlying services, such as service 106,for transactions in an SOA-based networked computer system. Thisfacilitates the monitoring and managing of the transactions implementingdistributed services within the SOA-based networked computer system.

Apparatus 110 intercepts or at least inspects messages, such as inbound(“I/B”) message 102 and outbound (“O/B”) message 104, that are exchangedwith service 106. Messages 102 and 104 enable service 106 to interactvia a computer network with other services (not shown) and with a clientcomputing device (not shown) that is requesting the transaction thatinvokes service 106. The functionalities of one or more services,including service 106, collectively perform a higher-level activity. Toillustrate, consider that service 106 is a service used by a customer topurchase a product. Service 106 can be an “order processing” service, a“credit checking” service, a “bill creation” service, or a “productshipping” service, all of which are used to at least perform theoverarching transaction of “purchasing a product.” Services, as usedherein, are elements of a service-oriented architecture (“SOA”) and aremodules of executable instructions that generally operate irrespectiveof the underlying computer architectures and operating systems used toprovide the services. These modules can be shared, reused and combinedto create composite applications in a SOA-based networked computersystem to expeditiously create sophisticated business transactions.

Message observer 122 receives messages 102 and 104 (or copies thereof)and characterizes those messages as they traverse a computer networkbetween service 106 and other services. A message characterizer (“MC”)124 is disposed within message observer 122 is configured tocharacterize the messages in terms of, for example, the content of thosemessages. Characterizations of messages enable apparatus 100 todistinguish messages from each other without inserting an identifierinto a message. Consequently, messages need not be altered to include akey to uniquely identify a subset of messages as being associated with aspecific service and/or transaction. This is advantageous because manycomputer networks implement security policies that frequently rejectmessages that are altered during transmission between services. Thus,apparatus 110 can operate in secure computer networks to identifymessages for discovering dependency links, according to at least oneembodiment of the present invention.

In operation, message characterizer 124 examines the contents of amessage and then computes a characterization value that is indicative ofthe relatively distinctive qualities of its contents, as compared toother messages having differing contents. A characterization value isindicative of data that represents the unique contents of one or moresimilar messages and is used to distinguish those one or more similarmessages from other different messages. In some instances, messagecharacterizer 124 can examine one or more portions of a message, such asthe contents of the message headers, message bodies, and the like, toestablish a characterization value. So long as the contents of messages102 and 104 differ from each other, then different characterizationvalues derived therefrom are sufficient to distinguish one message fromanother. And when the contents for each of messages 102 and 104 are thesame, then equivalent characterization values derived therefrom can beused to identify those or other similar messages.

In a specific embodiment, message characterizer 124 is configured tocondense messages 102 and 104 of any arbitrary length (i.e., anyarbitrary amount of bits representing strings of characters) into afixed amount of data that represents the characterization values foreach message. Condensing the arbitrary amounts of data into fixedamounts advantageously reduces the computational overhead required toidentify equivalent messages, among other things, when determiningdependency links. By representing characterization values as a smaller,fixed amount of data, computational resources and time are preservedthat otherwise would be consumed to match arbitrary amounts of dataagainst other arbitrary amounts of data when determining whether twomessages are equivalent. In accordance with one embodiment, the size ofeach characterization value is adjustable to maintain a number of uniquecharacterization values for attribution to a number of differentmessages that can coexist during operation of an SOA-based networkedcomputer system. For example, a number of bits for the fixed amount ofdata can adaptively change if additional transactions implement theunderlying services or if the number of requests for these services,such as service 106, increases. Alternatively, the size of thecharacterization can change as the size of the messages increases (asopposed to the quantity). In both examples, the volume of messages willincrease, thereby requiring more bits to uniquely identify messages. Assuch, the size of a characterization value can be a function of thetotal number of unique messages flowing among the services throughoutthe SOA-based networked computer system, according to at least oneembodiment.

Message observer 122 is also configured to analyze and describe otheraspects associated with the communication of messages 102 and 104.Message observer 122 analyzes the messages to form an associationbetween the characterization value for each message and a serviceidentifier that identifies service 106. Further, message observer 122analyzes each message to determine whether the message is either aninbound message 102 or an outbound message 104. If the message isinbound to service 106, then message observer 122 indicates service 106is a destination for the message by forming an association between asource-destination indicator specifying it is a “destination” and theservice identifier for service 106. Similarly, if the message isoutbound from service 106, then message observer 122 indicates thatservice 106 is a source of the message and forms an association betweena source-destination indicator specifying it is a “source” and service106.

In a specific embodiment, message observer 122 includes a causal linker(“CL”) 125 to at least contribute to the above-described determinationas to whether a message is either an inbound message 102 or an outboundmessage 104. While apparatus 110 uses message characterizer 124 toestablish dependency links between services, apparatus 110 can usecausal linker 125 to link two or more dependency links passing through aparticular service, such as service 106. Causality is based on theimpact of a message traveling over one dependency link to cause service106 to generate another message that travels over another dependencylink. In various embodiments, causal linker 125 can examine bothmessages and other information provided by the computing environment inwhich the causal linker is operating to extract other information thatcan be used to establish a “context” in which messages are exchangedwith service 106. The context can be used to either enhance the abilityof characterization values to identify equivalent messages or confirmthat a characterization value is sufficient to identify like messages.Specifically, a context of a message generally includes an associationthat links an incoming message to an outgoing message with respect to aspecific service. Consequently, message observer 122 and repository 130can link messages having different characterization values so long asthose messages are associated with a common service. These linkedmessages help form a chain of two or more dependency links, according toat least one embodiment.

In a specific embodiment, causal linker 125 is configured to extractcontextual information from messages and to provide that contextualinformation to repository 130 as “other” information 138. Messageobserver 122 and repository 130 forms for each message an associationbetween the contextual information and a characterization value and asource-destination indicator. Notably, the contextual informationdescribes aspects of the processing environment in which inbound message102 invokes a response by service 106 to generate outbound message 104.Contextual information for a message can be composed of, but not limitedto, one or more of the following: the data representing the messagebeing processed; information about the message as well as processingcontext, such as the name of the transaction; the time the messageenters and/or exits at apparatus 110 (e.g., as defined by a timestamp);the identity of the user invoking the transaction; one or more fields inthe message; and any other like information that describes the environsin which the messages are processed. Again, this information can bestored in repository 130 as “other” information 138.

Message observer 122 is coupled to repository 130 to at least: storesource-destination indicators as source-destination indicators (“S-DIDs”) 132, store service identifiers as service identifiers (“SERV IDs”)134 and store characterization values as characterization values (“CHARVALUES”) 136. Repository 130 also maintains relationships among thosestored values as described above. Consider that for each message andservice, repository 130 maintains a first association linking acharacterization value of the message to the service. Also, repository130 maintains a second association that links the service to asource-destination indicator for that message, whereby thesource-destination indicator specifies whether that service is either asource or a destination for messages having that characterization value.Apparatus 110 uses these associations to form at least one dependencylink with service 106.

Dependency calculator 126 is configured to receive with eachcharacterization value 136, a corresponding source-destination indicator132 and a corresponding service identifier 134. Source-destinationindicator 132 indicates whether an associated message havingcharacterization value 136 is destined to or is being sourced from theservice identified by service identifier 134. With these, dependencycalculator 126 determines at least one dependency link between services,such as between service 106 and another service that is not shown.Dependency calculator 126 is also configured to use the associationsamong the contextual information, characterization values andsource-destination indicators to establish causal relationships betweenmessages traversing two or more dependency links. For example,dependency calculator 126 uses the contextual information stored as“other” information 138 to determine a causal relationship betweeninbound message 102 and outbound message 104 with respect to service106. To illustrate, consider that a service A (not shown) sends aninbound message 102 to service 106, then service 106 sends outboundmessage 104 to invoke another service, such as a service B (not shown),to satisfy the request. Service B then responds by sending a message asinbound message 102 back to service 106, which in turn responds bysending a message as outbound message 104 back to service A to therebycomplete at least a part of a transaction using those three services. Asthe content for all messages 102 and 104 interacting with service 106are generally different, message characterizer 124 determines differentcharacterization for those messages. Given the context in which themessages are exchanged among service A, service B and service 106,dependency calculator 126 can establish a causal link that connects adependency link between service A and service 106 to another dependencylink between service B and service 106. In one embodiment, dependencycalculator 126 uses the context to link both dependency links to form adependency chain between service A and service B. So while dependencycalculator 126 uses equivalent characterization values to link the twoends of a message's journey between two services to form a dependencylink, it also uses contextual information to link messages passingthrough a common service based upon causality to link at least twodependency links.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrating a system of message observersdistributed within an SOA-based networked computer system, in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention. Message observers (“MO“) 154 a to154 d are coupled to services 152 a to 152 d, respectively, to observemessages being exchanged among those services. Then, message observers154 a to 154 d communicate characterization values, among other things,to a common dependency calculator 160 and repository 162, both of whichhave equivalent structures and/or functionalities of dependencycalculator 126 (FIG. 1A) and repository 130, respectively. In thisexample, services 152 a to 152 d exchange messages in a collaborativeeffort to perform an overarching transaction. One or more of theseservices can be located anywhere in SOA-based networked computer system150, such as in different subnetworks that each communicates via theInternet, a wide area network (“WAN”), and/or a local area network(“LAN”). In this example, a first service (“S1 ”) 152 a receives amessage (e.g., via “message in” port), performs its service function andthen sends a message to a next service (“S3 ”) 152 c (e.g., via “messageout” port) to continue performance of the transaction. Next service 152c then sends the same message (i.e., the same message content) to bothservices (“S2 ”) 152 b and (“S4”) 152 d to further perform (and/orcomplete) the transaction. In a specific embodiment, service 106 (FIG.1A) can be any of services 152 a to 152 d. Each of message observers(“MO”) 154 a to 154 d operates to send characterization data (“CHARDATA”) to common dependency calculator 160 and repository 162. For eachmessage, CHAR DATA includes a characterization value, a correspondingsource-destination indicator and a corresponding service identifier.Common dependency calculator 160 uses this CHAR DATA to form dependencylinks in a manner similar to dependency calculator 126 (FIG. 1).

Referring back to FIG. 1A to illustrate operation of dependencycalculator 126, consider that message observer 122 has examined a firstmessage with the attendant information being stored in repository 130,the attendant information including a first characterization value. Asan example, consider that the first message is exiting service 106.Next, consider that another message observer (not shown) is similar instructure and/or functionality to that of message observer 122, but isdisposed at or near another service (not shown). Also consider that theother message observer examines a second message entering the otherservice to compute a second characterization value. The other messageobserver operates to characterize the data representing the contents ofthe second message to compute a second characterization value as anothercharacterization value. The second characterization value is composed ofa fixed amount of data bits that uniquely identifies similar messages.Dependency calculator 126 compares the first characterization valueagainst the second characterization value, and if there is a match, thematch signifies that messages are equivalent. Note that both service 106and the other service are within the subset of services constituting atransaction.

Dependency calculator 126 then forms a dependency link between service106 and the other service. For example, consider that for a particularmessage, dependency calculator 126 designates service 106 as anoriginating portion of the dependency link if a first source-destinationindicator identifies service 106 as a source of the message. Furtherconsider that dependency calculator 126 designates the other service asa terminating portion of the dependency link if a secondsource-destination indicator identifies the second service as adestination of the message having an equivalent characterization value.Again, note that forming dependency links according to variousembodiments can advantageously identify the underlying services, such asservice 106, of transactions in an SOA-based networked computer system.Being able to discern those underlying services can normally bedifficult and can consume resources unnecessarily.

Apparatus 110 optionally includes a user interface (“UI”) module 140,which is configured to provide data representing one or more dependencylinks for displaying those dependency links on a display of a graphicaluser interface (“GUI”), for example. By displaying the dependency linksbetween services, a system manager can readily determine which servicesconstitute which transactions, thereby enabling the manager toexpeditiously manage and modify the behavior of transactions. Thisfacilitates proper operation of the SOA-based computer network.

Note that the term service, as used in some embodiments, can bedescribed as, but not limited to, being loosely coupled andcoarse-grained. Loosely coupled generally denotes relatively fewdependencies between logic in services (i.e., heterogeneous computingdevice hardware and software platforms) and the message data upon whichthe logic operates. Coarse-grained generally refers to the ability of aservice to performs its function and return its results in a single call(or very few calls). In one embodiment, messages 102 and 104 can employa common communications protocol, such as SOAP (“Simple Object AccessProtocol”) to pass XML-encoded data, or any other suitablecommunications protocol. In a specific embodiment, service 106 is a webservice communicatively coupled to a web service client 102 in a webservice architecture. The term transaction does not imply a restrictionto only commercial activity, but rather this term should be understoodto denote any process that can be implemented using service 106. In oneembodiment, apparatus 110 can be configured can be substituted forcorrelation keys to correlate messages as described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/850,132 filed on May 19, 2004, titled “Apparatusand Method for Web Service Message Correlation,” which is incorporatedby reference in its entirety, for all purposes.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram 200 illustrating a message characterizer inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention. In thisexample, message characterizer 210 includes a hash function 250 tocompute characterization values (“CHAR VALUE”) 262. Messagecharacterizer 210, which operates as a hash function, takes a message202 as an input and transforms that message into a characterizationvalue 262 having a fixed-length output referred to as a message digest.The message digest is a fixed-size set of bits that serves as a unique“digital fingerprint” for the original message. A suitable hash functionfor implementing message characterizer 210 is the MD-5 hash function,which is described in Request for Comments 1321 and maintained by MITLaboratory for Computer Science and RSA Data Security, Inc. But notethat message characterizer 210 need not implement public and privatekeys and other message authenticating protocols to condense thearbitrary amount of data. Consequently, the computational overhead ofperforming message characterization of various embodiments of thepresent invention is less than that required to authenticate a messageusing sophisticated algorithms. In one embodiment, optionalcharacterization adjuster 204 is configured to program hash function 250to generate a fixed amount of bits for representing each of thecharacterization values. The programmable hash function generator isconfigured to adjust the fixed amount of bits as a function of, forexample, a number of total messages. The resulting fixed data amount isoptimal in that it enables unique identification of messages, but alsouses a minimal amount of computational resources to processcharacterization values. Message 260 and characterization value 262 canthen pass information to the dependency calculator. In at least oneembodiment, characterization adjuster 204 dynamically adjusts thecharacterization value based on any number of factors, including, butnot limited to, the size of the messages, the quantity of messages, theconstruction of the messages, etc. In one embodiment, characterizationadjuster 204 selects which one of a number of algorithms is used tocompute the hash function, without necessarily changing the number ofbits.

FIG. 3 depicts the operation of a dependency calculator, according toone embodiment of the present invention. First, consider that arepository stores the following service identifiers “s1, ” “s2,” “3 ”and “s4 ” for representing service (“1”) 302, service (“2 ”) 322,service (“3 ”) 332 and service (“4 ”) 342, respectively. Each of theseservices is associated with messages having a characterization value 307(e.g., as a four digit hexadecimal number) and a source-destinationindicator 309 of either an “S” (“source” of message) or a “D”(“destination for message). For example, incoming message 301 ischaracterized to have a characterization value of A23F and asource-destination indicator of “D,” and outgoing message 303 ischaracterized to have a characterization value of B229 and asource-destination indicator of “S.” Similarly, incoming messages 321,331 and 341 are characterized to have respective characterization valuesof 25CD, B229, and 25CD and source-destination indicators of “D,” “D,”and “D,” whereas outgoing messages 323, 333 and 343 are characterized tohave respective characterization values of 56FE, 25CD, and D87E andsource-destination indicators of “S,” “S,” and “S.”

Dependency calculator 350 receives the above-described information andgenerates dependency links. First, dependency calculator 350 matchesmessages having an equivalent characterization value of B229, and thenit forms dependency link 360 extending from service (“1 ”) 302 toservice (“3 ”) 332. Note that service (“1 ”) 302 is the source ofmessages having equivalent characterization value of B229 and service(“3 ”) 332 is the destination. In a similar manner, dependencycalculator 350 forms parallel dependency links 362 and 364. Thus, ifservice (“1 ”) 302, service (“2 ”) 322, service (“3 ”) 332 and service(“4 ”) 342, represent an “order processing” service, a “credit checking”service, a “bill creation” service, and a “product shipping” service,respectively, then the dependencies of the underlying services toperform the transaction “purchase a product” have been discovered. Inone embodiment, dependency calculator 350 forms a first causal link fromdependency link 360 to dependency link 362 and a second causal link fromdependency link 360 to dependency link 364, the causal links each beingassociated with service (“S3 ”) 332. In determining the causal links,dependency calculator 350 evaluates the context in which messages travelover these dependency links. The context can be described by contextualinformation associated with each message. For example, consider thatmessages entering service (“S3 ”) 332 have the same (or nearly the same)time stamp as those messages exiting that service. Dependency calculatoroperates to preclude less temporally relevant messages from beingconsidered in the determining of causal links (i.e., it considers onlythose messages that are temporally relevant in determining causality).The contextual information can also include a transaction identifierthat specifies a unique transaction as “purchase a product” and a useridentifier (e.g., as network address). In forming a causal link betweendependency link 360 and dependency links 362 and 364, dependencycalculator forms causal relationships for messages exiting and enteringservice (”S3 ”) 332, so long as those messages have the same transactionidentifier, the same user identifier and the same time stamp, regardlessof differing characterization values. Note that different aspects ortypes of contextual information can be used to establish theabove-described causal links.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram describing a method for discoveringdependencies in a SOA-based networked computer system in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention. At 402, messages traversingthrough the SOA-based networked computer system are characterized, forexample, in terms of the content of a message. The characterizations ofmessages are characterization values. Those characterization values arecompared at 404. Any matching characterization values or message digestsare identified at 406. Each service within the SOA-based networkedcomputer system that is associated with a matched characterization valuecan be used to establish dependency links with other services at 408. At410, a subset of dependency links among services that underlie aspecific transaction are determined. Then, at 412, the dependency linksfrom the subset are displayed on a graphical user interface.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a system for discovering dependencies in anSOA-based networked computer system in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention. In this example, the SOA-based networked computerin which system 500 resides is a web service architecture. Consider thata user initiates a transaction at a client computer device 504, such as“purchasing a product.” This transaction requires the functionalities ofthe underlying web services, service (“1 ”) 552, service (“2 ”) 554,service (“3 ”) 556 and service (“4 ”) 558 to implement an orderprocessing web service, a credit check web service, a bill customer webservice, and a ship order web service, respectively. Web services 550perform individual web services corresponding to their individual names.Although web services 550 can send and receive XML messages in the SOAPformat, other protocols can be implemented (e.g., non-SOAP XML, etc.).In some embodiments, services of web services 550 can be consolidated ona single host computing device. Or, those services can be distributedover any number of computing devices in a network.

In this example, messages being exchanged between client computer 504and services 550 pass through agents 520 a to 520 d, each of which areassociated with respective services 552 to 558. Messages pass viacommunications link 510 (e.g., a computer network) to communicate withservices 550. Agents 520 a to 520 d each can be configured to examineand to modify the contents of messages, to reroute messages, and toanalyze the context of messages, among other things. Agents 520 a to 520d can also change values or states of a variable within the message, byexecuting instructions called actions. An action instructs any of agents520 a to 520 d to perform a unit of processing as either a service or atransaction, or both. A suitable agent for implementing agents 520 a to520 d, according to a specific embodiment of the present invention, isdescribed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/201,617 filed on Jul.22, 2002, titled “Apparatus and Method for Content and ContextProcessing of Web Service Traffic,” which is incorporated by referencein its entirety, for all purposes. In a specific embodiment, each ofagents 520 a to 520 d includes a corresponding message observers (“MO”)522 a to 522 d for characterizing messages as an action. Each messageobserver 522 a to 522 d has an equivalent structure and/or functionalityof the message observers described elsewhere. While the functionalitiesof message observers 522 a to 522 d are distributed, the functionalityof dependency calculator 540 and a repository (not shown) can beconsolidated at a common location, as shown in this example. Dependencycalculator 540 of FIG. 5 has an equivalent structure and/orfunctionality to that described elsewhere. With message observers 522 ato 522 d and dependency calculator 540 cooperating to establishdependency links, a system manager can use computing device 502 to viewdependency links and to modify the operational characteristics of thoselinks as well as the associated services when managing the performanceof an SOA-based networked computer system.

FIG. 6 depicts a computer device implementing a user interface to modifythe operational characteristics of dependency links in accordance withone embodiment of the present invention. Computing device 600 includes agraphical user interface 602 that in this example is displaying services604 and intervening dependency links. Computing device 600 can alsoinclude one or more central processing units (“CPUs”), whetherdistributed or otherwise, to execute program instructions, for example,in response to input provided by a user via a user input device 614. Abus and/or network 620 facilitate communications among user interface602, CPU 612, user input 614, and memory 620. Note that while memory 620is depicted as a unitary memory, the one or more depicted modules can bedistributed throughout an SOA-based networked computer system. In thisexample, memory 620 includes any arbitrary operating system (“OS”) 622,applications programs 624, a message observer module 630, a dependencycalculator 640 and a user interface module 650. As shown, messageobserver module 630 includes executable instructions to implement amessage characterizer (“MC”) module 632. Dependency calculator 640includes executable instructions to store and fetch characterizationvalues (“Char Values”) 642, source-destination values (“S-D IDs”) 644,and service identifiers (“Serv IDs”) 646. User interface module 650operates in response to input at user input device 614. For example,user interface module 650 generates symbols describing the number ofmessages, for example, that are passing through the dependency linksthat relate to a specific transaction in view of the total number ofmessages passing through those services 604 for other transactions. Asan example, symbol 606 a indicates that there are 57 messages passingbetween the two services related to a transaction of interest, whereasthere are 212 total messages passing via that same dependency link.Symbols 606 b and 606 c represent similar properties of correspondingdependency links.

So when managing operation of the SOA-based networked computer system, agraphical user interface can accept a request to determine a firstsubset of services coupled via dependency links that are used to performa first transaction. Then, computing system 600 can display for thefirst transaction a first service (“S1 ”) 604 coupled via at least onedependency link to a second service (“S3 ”) 604. User input 614 canaccept a request to modify a property of a dependency link to modifybehavior of the first transaction, thereby facilitating the managementof the operation of the SOA-based computer network. For instance, therequest to modify the property can include executable instructions tomodify a number of messages flowing between the first service and thesecond service. An example of a case when the number of messages flowingbetween services increases is when a manager implements a newtransaction and then performs an impact analysis to determine theincrease in messages due the increased usage of those services. Auditlogging, use of signed messages, fault analysis and other similaractivities can influence the operation of the SOA-based computernetwork. Either software processes or hardware processes, or both, cangovern the various above-described methods of characterizing messagesand discovering dependencies.

An embodiment of the present invention relates to a computer storageproduct with a computer-readable medium having computer code thereon forperforming various computer-implemented operations. The media andcomputer code may be those specially designed and constructed for thepurposes of the present invention, or they may be of the kind well knownand available to those having skill in the computer software arts.Examples of computer-readable media include, but are not limited to:magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape;optical media such as CD-ROMs and holographic devices; magneto-opticalmedia such as floptical disks; and hardware devices that are speciallyconfigured to store and execute program code, such asapplication-specific integrated circuits (“ASICs”), programmable logicdevices (“PLDs”) and ROM and RAM devices. Examples of computer codeinclude machine code, such as produced by a compiler, and filescontaining higher-level code that are executed by a computer using aninterpreter. For example, an embodiment of the invention may beimplemented using Java, C++, C#, or any other programming languageand/or development tools. Another embodiment of the invention may beimplemented in hardwired circuitry in place of, or in combination with,machine-executable software instructions.

The foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, used specificnomenclature to provide a thorough understanding of the invention.However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that specificdetails are not required in order to practice the invention. Thus, theforegoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the invention arepresented for purposes of illustration and description. They are notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise formsdisclosed; obviously, many modifications and variations are possible inview of the above teachings. The embodiments were chosen and describedin order to best explain the principles of the invention and itspractical applications, they thereby enable others skilled in the art tobest utilize the invention and various embodiments with variousmodifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It isintended that the following claims and their equivalents define thescope of the invention.

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium forming a computer storageproduct, including executable instructions to identify underlyingservices of transactions in a service-oriented architecture(“SOA”)-based computer network, the computer readable medium comprisingexecutable instructions to: characterize messages communicating amongservices by applying a function to each message to transform eachmessage into a characterization value having a fixed length indicativeof the contents of each message, thereby forming characterizationvalues, each service receiving and/or transmitting messages associatedwith a plurality of transactions that are unspecified by the associatedmessages, each transaction being supported by a subset of said services;determine if the messages are inbound messages or outbound messages;based on the messages being an inbound message or an outbound message,associate each of the messages with one of the said services; based onthe association of two or more messages with the same service, link thetwo or messages to form a context for the two or more messages; enhancethe characterization values for each of the two or more messages byincorporating the context with the characterization values; store saidenhanced characterization values external to said messages withoutaltering said messages; compare enhanced characterization values todetermine dependencies within a subset of said services; and determineat least one of the plurality of transactions as supported by the subsetof said services according to the determined dependencies.
 2. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 further comprisingexecutable instructions to adjust a size associated with said fixedlength to maintain a number of unique characterization values toattribute to a number of subsets of said messages.
 3. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 1 wherein said function is a hashfunction.
 4. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1further comprising executable instructions to graphically represent adependency link on a display of a graphical user interface (“GUI”). 5.The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 4 furthercomprising executable instructions to form a chain of dependency links.6. A system to identify underlying services of transactions in aservice-oriented architecture (“SOA”)-based computer network, theapparatus comprising: a network of computing devices implementing aplurality of services exchanging messages to perform transactions thatare unspecified by the messages; a message observer module configured tocompute characterization values for messages either entering eachservice or exiting each service, or both by independently condensing andcomparing said messages amongst themselves, for a subset of services ofsaid plurality of services, wherein said message observer modulecomprises a programmable hash function generator configured to generatea fixed amount of bits to represent each of said characterizationvalues, wherein said programmable hash function generator is configuredto adjust said fixed amount of bits as a function of a number of totalmessages, determine if the messages are inbound messages or outboundmessages, based on the messages being an inbound message or an outboundmessage, associate each of the messages with one of the said services,based on the association of two or more messages with the same service,link the two or messages to form a context for the two or more messages,enhance the characterization values for each of the two or more messagesby incorporating the context with the characterization values; and adependency calculator module configured to receive said characterizationvalues and to determine dependency links between services having anequivalent characterization value within said subset of services,wherein one or more dependency links describe the cooperation ofservices that effectuate said transactions such that the messages can beassociated with transactions according to their characterization values.7. The system of claim 6 wherein said message observer module is furtherconfigured to provide with each of said characterization values asource-destination indicator and a service identifier.
 8. The system ofclaim 7 wherein said dependency calculator module is configured todetermine at least one of said dependency links as a dependency linkbetween a first service and a second service, said dependency calculatormodule designating said first service as an originating portion of saiddependency link if a first source-destination indicator identifies saidfirst service as a source of messages having said equivalentcharacterization value, and designating said second service as aterminating portion of said dependency link if a secondsource-destination indicator identifies said second service as adestination of messages having said equivalent characterization value.9. The system of claim 7 further comprising a user interface moduleconfigured to provide data representing said one or more dependencylinks for displaying said one or more dependency links on a display of auser interface.